Congrats to Phillies, Phillies fans

I have taken my shots at Phillies fans over the years, and they've taken their shots at me.

But you know what, this Cardinals fan of about 40 years has to admit that these Phillies are one helluva good baseball team and they're very deserving of winning the National League title.

So, celebrate Philly and all Phillies fans from Bangor to Bally and Coaldale to Catty. Considering all of the wild celebrations going on for just winning the NL, one can only imagine how nuts it's going to get when the World Series is over:

You should feel proud of having a terrific club that in my opinion has to be the favorite to win the World Series, no matter who winds up winning the AL. Even not having the homefield advantage shouldn't matter if the Phils keep playing like this. It certainly didn't matter in the last two games in LA.

I felt from the beginning they would beat the Dodgers, but I thought it would take six games and be much more of a struggle than it was. LA looked more like a circus act than a baseball team in Game 5.

Now, the biggest worry is not necessarily the Red Sox, or the D-Rays.

It's the upcoming six-day layoff for a club that has been on fire since that four-game sweep over Milwaukee from Sept. 11-14. They finished the regular season 13-3 and have now gone 7-2 in the postseason. That's a 20-5 mark in the last month. That's not backing into anything, that's steamrolling. You worry if this layoff will hurt them. A similar layoff killed the Rockies last year.

I'm sure my colleague Steve Miller and others on the staff will have more insights in the days' ahead and there's big plans for a World Series preview in our newspaper.

But here are some observations from all of the postgame TV coverage Wednesday night that stretched into Thursday morning:

***Former Phillies ownerBill Gilesseemed well into celebration mode as he presented the Warren Giles National League championship trophy to his good friend David Montgomery. Giles, who took his share of shots from the fans while in charge, seemed to enjoy the moment as much as anyone.

***GM Pat Gillick showed remarkable class by making sure to salute previous GM Ed Wade and giving him the credit for putting this team together. Gillick said he basically just had to add some pieces to what Wade built. Considering how villified Wade was around here by media and fans alike, that was a very nice gesture by Gillick.

***Mitch Williams said on Comcast SportsNet that Charlie Manuel will go down as beloved in Philly as Dallas Green was. I think he's right. Charlie M no longer comes across as that stuttering, stammering country boy. He knows baseball. He knows how to handle men. He's the perfect guy for this team.

***Jamie Moyer, at age 45 and after all of these seasons, is going to his first World Series and has a chance to truly go down memory lane with his first parade down Broad Street since he was a senior at Souderton High in the fall of 1980. Moyer seemed to be holding back tears as he was interviewed after the game. The classy Moyer has said numerous times how special it has been for him to come back home to close his career. A World Series title will be only icing to his farewell to the game.

***Charlie Manuel typically handled himself with class and tipped his cap to the players and also paid a brief tribute to his late mother, June, saying "She's up there pulling for us." He also said that in his final conversation with his mother, she told him he was going to be in the World Series.

***Cole Hamels pitches like a man, but when he talks you're reminded that this gifted lefty is just 24 years old and is basically a kid still finding his way.

***Pat Burrell really showed some class by saying how much the Philly fans have meant to him and how eager he was to get back home to continue the celebration with them. Burrell has taken an absolute beating over the years from fans, no one has been booed more, but he still enjoys playing in that city and for the people who have often been on his back. He seems to understand their passion better than most.

***Brett Myers, during one of the many postgame interviews, actually reflected on his time in Allentown as a Lehigh Valley IronPig. He said those tough days in Triple-A made him realize how hard he had to work to get his act together. It also made him appreciate his success and the championships won by this team even more than had he not gone down "up?" to Allentown to find himself.

***If you didn't have enough of the nonstop gibberish offered by Joe Buckand Tim McCarver, get ready for plenty more since Fox has the World Series. I'm not a big fan of having celebrities announce the starting lineups, but at least Fox found a true Philly connection this time in having David Boreaz, the star of "Bones" and the son of Philly Channel 6 weatherman Dave Roberts, do the honors before Game 5. Buck even mentioned Roberts by name. That was good.

***IronPigs-turned-Phillies analyst Ricky Bottalico doesn't get much air time having to share the Comcast SportsNet desk with Mitch Williams, but he seems to be the much more even-keeled of the closer duo and said he was looking forward to a Philly-Tampa World Series with all of the home run potential on both sides. Williams, who believe it or not is not nearly as polished as Bottalico, had his days mixed up and then said that he wanted the Red Sox to win the AL because the Red Sox weren't hitting very well. But you'd imagine that for Boston to win the next three games and get to the World Series, they'd have to snap out of their slump, wouldn't they? Strange comment by Mitch.

Anyway, it was a big night for Philly sports history. Hopefully, most of those who partied kept it under control and didn't sour what was a memorable night. I have a feeling one more big celebration is to come.